Wolverines Down Wildcats to Win Third Straight Dual

Friday, February 1

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

134

106

Northwestern

2/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team won its third consecutive dual meet on Friday evening (Feb. 1) with a 134-106 victory over No. 16-ranked Northwestern at Canham Natatorium. The loss is the first of the season for the Wildcats (4-1-1, 2-1 Big Ten), while the Wolverines improve to 3-2 against Big Ten Conference opponents and 3-4 on the season.

Fenn

After the 500-yard freestyle, the 11th of the 13 events, Michigan had opened up a sizeable scoring advantage as six different individuals had posted wins for the Maize and Blue to go along with the top performing team in the 200-yard medley relay.

Sophomore Emily-Clare Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS) led the 1-2-3 finish for Michigan in the 500-yard freestyle with an NCAA consideration time of 4:55.29, followed by freshman Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS) in second and sophomore Lori Eberwein (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin HS) in third. McCullough swam the 500 yards in a time of 4:57.56 and Eberwein broke five minutes in the event for the first time this season (4:58.34).

McCullough was also one of the six different individuals on the Michigan squad to post a victory as she claimed the top spot in the 1,000-yard freestyle. With a time of 9:57.12, McCullough posted her third win in the 1,000-yard freestyle this season.

After McCullough won the 1,000-yard freestyle, the Wolverines further padded their lead with victories from junior Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Western HS) and sophomore Sara Johnson (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser HS). Kaznecki outpaced the field in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.91 and Johnson was able to hold off teammate Lindsay Carlberg (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) for first place in the 200-yard individual medley with a mark of 2:05.88.

Although Carlberg was unable to defeat Johnson in the 200-yard IM, the senior co-captain was able to claim the top spot in the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA consideration time of 2:00.49. Carlberg's victory in the 200 backstroke was sandwiched in between Fenn's in the 500-yard freestyle and sophomore Annie Weilbacher's (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS) in the 100-yard freestyle. Weilbacher was able to hold off a stiff challenge from Wildcat sophomore Erin Swenson to win the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.20.

Weilbacher also played an integral part to Michigan getting off to a fast start as she competed on the 200-yard medley relay team that won the opening event of the meet. Kaznecki, sophomore Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Waterson HS) and junior Erin Abbey (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield HS) combined with Weilbacher to post a time of 1:44.54.

As Michigan dominated in the pool, sophomore diver Tealin Kelemen (Riverton, N.J./Moorestown Friends School) posted a sweep on the boards. With an NCAA zone qualifying mark of 273.15 on the one-meter board and a three-meter score of 267.10, Kelemen was able to sweep the diving events for the second time this season. She also accomplished the feat against Florida (Oct. 19).

Kelemen led a 1-2-3 sweeps in both diving events, with freshmen Alexis Goolik (Highland, Ind./Highland HS) and Lauren Roth (Libertyville, Ill./Loyola Academy) placing second and third, respectively, on the three-meter board, and Kelly Vander Kuyl (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) finishing runner-up and Goolik third in the one-meter competition.

Michigan's next meet will be on Saturday (Feb. 2) at 3 p.m. when it hosts No. 13-ranked Notre Dame at Canham Natatorium.

Q U O T E S

U-M Head Coach Jim Richardson
On the meet ... "Northwestern has a lot of kids that are really tired right now and I've had teams that have been in that situation before. Our team did a really good job though of getting ready for this meet. Emily-Clare Fenn helped lead us in the 500-yard freestyle and it was great to see Lori (Eberwein) break the five-minute mark in the event. We want to swim consistent and I think we are starting to get there. Notre Dame will be a tough test tomorrow but it will show a lot about our toughness and how we want to compete."

On senior Lindsay Carlberg and sophomore Annie Weilbacher ... "Both Lindsay and Annie are national caliber swimmers. To be a national caliber swimmer you have to be a consistent swimmer and you have to perform well when there are some big guns swimming against you. Both of them are so steady though and it really gives our team a lot of confidence to have them in the water."

On freshman Amy McCullough ... "There are days that Amy does things as good as anyone in this program. She has never trained this hard before though and it's a maturing process. We are hoping that next year, instead of having three or four good days a week, she'll be able to go hard for four or five days."

Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423